Club Benefits
Yes, I know that to the sim racers amongst you, this is a cursed image — an F1-style wheel with a gear shifter and handbrake. The layout is also cursed too, but you can blame the limited space to bolt addons to the PlaySeat Formula Instinct rig.
The big news here is that Revosim has teamed up with Aston Martin to bring this new F1 wheel add-on to the RS Pure Sim — including this flatter, wider F1-style wheel, magnetic mounting cap with the badge, driving gloves and the carbon paddles for £129. In my testing, for enhancing steering feel in these beasty cars, this definitely performs much better than the real-life team is doing right now (...that was low, apologies to the team).
But while I am very much a track racer, I want the flexibility to dip into rally and drifting too. So I got the £439 Revosim bundle with shifter, loadcell handbrake and clutch pedal too for the full experience, and while I absolutely suck at rallying right now, it’s a lot of fun with these. Let me explain.
P1 for F1 racing
So let’s talk about the Aston Martin tie in here to begin with, because this is a great attachment if track racing is your thing. For those not in the know, there are some real benefits to a formula-style wheel that fundamentally changes the ergonomics and physics of how you interact with the sim
For the 180-degree rotation range of a track car over the 360 degrees of a standard roadcar, you’ll have your hands permanently locked to the wheel in the 9-and-3 position. This is built perfectly for that with an ergonomic placement of comfortable hand grips (with the gloves adding a nice grippiness to them too).
You aren’t fighting the inertia of a larger, heavier outer ring, so my steering inputs react to the competition around me and hit that apex first much faster. For even more weight-saving, you can change those metal paddles out for carbon fiber, but I still prefer the chunky click of the originals personally.
The well-design width also ensures that the key controls are just a thumb’s reach away for managing ERS and Brake Bias on-the-fly during a qualifying lap. Throw in the magnetic Aston Martin badge (which can be taken off if you’re coping as a Ferrari fanboy…hi btw) and you’ve got a fully-branded, high quality sim racing experience with that full.
Would I have loved a standalone wheel with a built-in display for telemetry? Sure. But that’s where the bluetooth-connected app comes in, and there are already on-board lights for rev counter and whatnot. This is a solid attachment to specialize your setup.
“If in doubt, flat out”
Colin McRae said it better than anyone else could — easily one of the most legendary rally drivers in the sport’s history. Turns out when I started going flat out in Assetto Corsa Rally, I wrapped my Lancia around many, many trees.
This is seriously sim racing on hard mode (in my opinion), as there’s much more to think about from not just gear choice, but also how to approach each corner based on the surface you’re driving over, the tightness of it, whether there are small obstacles or holes on each side that could send you flying, and much more.
But while it took me a long time to get acquainted to it, I can’t blame the tools, as I absolutely love the satisfying chunk of the hybrid gear box and pressurized pull of the load cell handbrake. These feel incredibly well-built and hefty with solid handles and zero flex in the metal shells as you put them through their paces.
And when I finally managed to nail the perfect handbrake flick around a hairpin turn, it was so satisfying. It quickly became muscle memory, which is a testament to the precise readings of that handbrake, and powering out with a tactile click on every shift really amped up the immersion.
…did I end up driving off a cliff? Maybe. But it was worth it.
Outlook
If you remember my review of the RS Pure back last year, one of my main frustrations was that the ecosystem may take a while to gain steam. We still don’t have any PlayStation compatibility (yet), and these accessories are not available in the U.S. But at the very least, we’re getting the full accessory set on PC to make this the all-purpose sim setup you need.
The Aston Martin wheel attachment is a great addition for anyone looking to level-up their track racing, and the gearbox and handbrake have that satisfyingly hefty feeling that makes you feel like you’re firing a V10 monster from the 90s around a tight turn in the middle of the Welsh forest.
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